


I'll Stand By You

by TourmalineDame



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Broken Promises, Clint Is a Good Bro, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Natasha Romanov, Hurt/Comfort, Married Couple, Missions Gone Wrong, Natasha Needs a Hug, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Orphans, Post-Mission, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 10:41:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11667480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TourmalineDame/pseuds/TourmalineDame
Summary: I promised you on our wedding day that I will stand by your side in joy and sorrow, right?





	I'll Stand By You

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my very first Romanogers fic. English is not my first language and this work is unbetaed. I apologize in advance for grammar errors. The title was taken from The Pretenders song, I'll Stand By You. Enjoy!

 

 

> Don't be ashamed to cry  
>  Let me see you through  
>  'cause I've seen the dark side too

If it wasn't for his enhanced hearing, Steve Rogers wouldn't be able to hear his wife’s footsteps downstairs. He had been making love to _Crime and Punishment_ for two hours straight while waiting for her to come home and now that she’s here, of course he would want to greet her properly. Steve had been informed by Clint that their four day mission in Korkino had gone south and Nat didn't take it very well. Clint didn't get into details, so Steve wasn't sure what to expect. He put the book on the top of their drawer and hurried downstairs.

There she was, staring at the wall in their living room. She just stood there, didn't seem to acknowledge Steve’s presence. Her eyes were dull and she was covered in dirt. He also noticed blood stains on her suit. _That bad_ , Steve muttered. He walked towards her and when she didn't show any reaction, he pulled her gently into his arms. “Nat, baby, what’s wrong?” he murmured softly against her hair and planted a kiss on her temple. Natasha, finally aware of her surrounding, closed her eyes, buried her face on Steve’s chest and circled her arms around him. She held him tight, as if she was afraid to lose him, but she didn't answer Steve’s question. Steve knew better than to push her, she will talk when she’s ready.

After a few minutes of total silence, Natasha began to shake, and then a few sobs escaped from her lips. Steve felt that her arms loosen around him and her legs had gone weak, so he held her tighter while letting her broke down in his arms. She tried hard to control her emotions, but then she remembered she was with her husband. _This is safe, I’m safe_ , she thought to herself, and she let it all out. “I failed her”, she whispered between her sobs. Steve thank God once again for his enhanced hearing, because he was sure that without it, he wouldn't be able to hear her. “I led her to death, Steve” she tried again, a little louder this time. “I was supposed to bring the orphans to a safe house that SHIELD had provided. Gunshots could be heard everywhere. Clint and I lead the kids to a bus that would bring them there. We were in a hurry and I forgot to count their heads. There were only twenty six kids on that bus, Steve. We left the twenty-seventh behind.” She stopped to catch her breath and tried real hard to swallow down her sobs. Steve rubbed her back to calm her down. It broke his heart to see his wife like this. Suddenly, Natasha continued to talk. “I went back to the scene and looked for the kid. I found a little girl crouching down under one of the beds there. She was terrified she couldn’t even move. I carried her out and put her in a car that I found not too far from the scene. I was about to get in and drove her to the safe house when two Mikhailov’s men yanked me away from the car. I told her to stay inside and I promised her that she will be okay...” Tears continued to fall freely from her emerald eyes. He kinda knew how this story would end, and he did not like it, but he forced himself to listen for Natasha’s sake. “So I fought with every power I got left in me. I fought so I could keep my promise to her. They managed to stab me with a shrapnel, but I refused to give up. And I won. Well… I thought I won.” She laughed bitterly at this. “I brought both men to the ground, Steve, so I thought it was safe and then I made my way back to the car. But one of them had a fucking pen bomb that I wasn’t aware of. He threw it towards my direction. I saw it rolled under the car and in a matter of seconds I-” she let out a huge sob and Steve placed multiple kisses at the top of her head to soothe her _. God, this is terrible_.

“Natasha look at me.” Steve placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face up. He saw tears streaming down her face, he wiped them out with his thumb. “Baby, you did everything you could. There’s no way you could’ve known that the asshole brought a pen bomb with h-” he was interrupted by Natasha. “I am a spy for crying out loud! I should’ve known, dammit! I should’ve known…” She couldn’t think straight anymore. “Sshh... baby, please don’t do this to yourself. You were alone and injured. It’s out of your control, you did everything you could.” Steve chose his next words carefully. “In our line of work, we cannot always save people, Nat, you know that, right?” She stayed silent. He went on, “But we can continue to live for them. Better yet, avenge them.” Natasha nodded weakly and to this, Steve was relieved. He pulled away from their embrace to let her breathe and regain her composure. Steve could see the exhaustion on her face, so he carried her to their bedroom and laid her down. He took off her shoes and went to the bathroom to draw her a bath. _I hope this helps_ , he thought to himself. He carried Natasha to the bathroom, stripped her down and led her to the bathtub. He left her there so she could make peace with herself.

* * *

Natasha emerged from the bathroom looking better than before. She put Steve’s shirt on and laid down beside her husband on the bed. Now that she’s clean and calm, Steve rode his shirt up so he could examine her wound from the mission. It was large, but Dr. Cho had done a great job on it so Natasha could heal properly. He kissed the wound and smiled at her. “I’m so sorry, Steve. I didn’t mean to lose my shit on you.” Natasha hated it when she lose control, even if it was in front of her other half. She was trained to feel no emotions after all. Steve sighed, “Nat, you are my wife. You don’t have to apologize for things like this. I promised you on our wedding day that I will stand by your side in joy and sorrow, right? I’ll always be here for you, babe.” Natasha scooted closer to Steve and kiss him tenderly to show her gratitude. “Thank you, moya zvezda. I love you”, she said genuinely. Exhaustion finally caught up with Natasha and her eyes started to drop. Steve pulled her closer, wrapped his arms around her in a protective way and planted a kiss between her brows. “Get some rest, Nat. I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated (:


End file.
